On December 22nd 2020, outgoing President Donald Trump pardoned four Blackwater mercenaries convicted of attacking Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre. Was this move just more cruelty for its own sake? Or was there another motive?
Dec. 11 2020 Media Release on: Gov. Northam’s announcement of $9 million for Shockoe Bottom historical memorialization
Statement by the Virginia Defenders on Gov. Northam’s announcement of $9 million for Shockoe Bottom historical memorialization: There’s something missing.
Autumn 2020 Issue
The Autumn 2020 issue of the Virginia Defender was published on October 29, 2020. Click here to find a full PDF.
FREE THE RICHMOND 300!
During the months of national anti-racist protests triggered by the brutal police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, around 300 protesters were arrested in Richmond. Some are facing serious felony charges.
KROGER WORKERS PROTEST PROPOSED HEALTH CARE CUTS
Despite record sales growth amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, along with a rising number of confirmed cases among store workers, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Kroger, is proposing to cut health care benefits for thousands of employees in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
VA. BEACH SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE OVER HAZARD PAY
What do you do when, in the middle of a pandemic, they call you an “essential worker,” but then don’t pay you like one? For Virginia Beach sanitation workers, the answer was to strike.
MULTIPLE CRISES CHALLENGE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES
Immigrant communities in Virginia are facing unprecedented challenges, now greatly complicated by the COVID-19 crisis. Below is a list of some of the organizations that offer services to immigrants in the state.
The Virginia Defender 